Data Governance Lead

University of Texas at Austin•Austin, TX

About The Position

The Lead Data Governance Analyst is responsible for establishing, implementing, and maintaining data governance frameworks that ensure the accuracy, security, and usability of healthcare data across the enterprise. This role serves as the bridge between IT, clinical and business operations, compliance, and leaders to promote data integrity, enable analytics, and support regulatory compliance (HIPAA, HITECH, CMS, Joint Commission). The Lead Data Governance Analyst will champion a culture of data stewardship, develop policies and standards, and provide leadership on projects that enhance the value of enterprise healthcare data.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Informatics, Data Science, Information Systems, Health Information Management, or related field.
7+ years of progressive experience in data governance, data management, healthcare analytics, or enterprise data strategy.
Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and sustaining enterprise data governance frameworks, policies, and standards.
Strong knowledge of healthcare data standards and biomedical terminologies (HL7, X12, FHIR, DICOM, ICD, CPT, LOINC, SNOMED).
Experience working with EHR platforms and clinical/research data environments (e.g., Epic, Oracle/Cerner, Meditech, Athena).
Working knowledge of healthcare regulatory and compliance frameworks (HIPAA, HITECH, CMS, NIST, Joint Commission).
Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence senior stakeholders across clinical, operational, IT, compliance, and research domains.
Experience establishing data stewardship models, ownership structures, and governance councils.
Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Healthcare Informatics, Information Management, Data Science, or related field.
Professional certification in data governance, data management, or health data, such as: CDMP (DAMA) – Certified Data Management Professional DGSP or DGIQ (DGI) – Data Governance & Stewardship Professional / Certified Data Governance Professional CHDA (AHIMA) – Certified Health Data Analyst CHPS (AHIMA) – Certified in Healthcare Privacy and Security
Experience leading enterprise-level data governance councils or healthcare transformation initiatives.
Experience with enterprise data governance and catalog tools (e.g., Microsoft Purview, Collibra, Informatica, Alation).
Strategic thinker with ability to balance long-term governance needs with immediate business requirements.
Excellent communication and facilitation skills; capable of engaging various stakeholders (clinical, IT, business, information security, compliance, privacy).
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with a focus on process improvement.
Passion for data-driven healthcare transformation and improving patient outcomes.

Responsibilities

Data Governance & Strategy Lead the design, development, and execution of the organization’s data governance framework, policies, and standards.
Partner with stakeholders across clinical, research, financial, and operational areas to establish data ownership and stewardship responsibilities.
Define and monitor key data governance metrics, ensuring continuous improvement in data quality and usability.
Promote Data Culture and Data Literacy opportunities through learning and sharing Data Quality & Integrity Establish standards and enforce procedures for data validation, lineage tracking, and quality monitoring.
Collaborate with data owners to resolve issues related to accuracy, consistency, and timeliness.
Implement tools and processes to track master data management (MDM) and reference data to ensure single sources of truth across systems.
Compliance & Security Ensure that all data governance processes are aligned with healthcare regulations (HIPAA, HITECH, GDPR, CMS).
Work with Information Security and Compliance teams to ensure data access, use, and sharing meet all institutional and legal requirements.
Lead audits and documentation efforts for data governance and regulatory reporting.
Stakeholder Engagement & Leadership Serve as the primary liaison for enterprise data governance activities, engaging clinical leaders, research teams, IT, and business stakeholders.
Actively participate and support the Data Governance Council or related workgroups .
Provide guidance and training to business units, promoting data stewardship and governance best practices.
Analytics & Decision Support Collaborate with data engineers, BI analysts, and clinical researchers to ensure data governance policies enable effective reporting and analytics.
Support enterprise initiatives for enterprise analytics working with domain areas on data definitions, data standardization, and single source of truth.
Project Leadership Lead cross-functional projects to implement new data standards, metadata repositories, and governance tools.
Provide mentorship to analysts and serve as a subject matter expert in data governance practices.